Irish-American professional boxer Jack Dempsey, world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926
Boxing in the 1920s was an exceptionally popular international sport.[1] Many fights during this era, some 20 years away or so from the television era, were social events with many thousands in attendance, both men and women.
Because airlines lacked the structured schedules of the modern days, many boxers had to make their way to important fights by train.
In 1921, the National Boxing Association was formed. It was the predecessor of what is known now as theWBA.Tex Rickard was the leading promoter of the day, and he has been compared toP.T. Barnum andDon King.
In 1920, theWalker Law was implemented, making professional boxing legal in the state ofNew York.
July 5 – Benny Leonard knocked out of the ring in round 5 came back to knockoutCharley White in the 9th round to retain the lightweight championship in Benton Harbor,Michigan.
January 14 –Benny Leonard retains the world Lightweight title with a sixth-round knockout ofRichie Mitchell, at New York. Leonard suffered a first round knockdown, during which his mother fainted.
February 7 –Jack Britton retains the world Welterweight title with a fifteen-round decision overTed "Kid" Lewis, at New York.
July 2 – In boxing's first million dollar fight in history, (and the year's most anticipated bout)Jack Dempsey retains the world Heavyweight championship with afourth-round knockout over world Light-Heavyweight championGeorges Carpentier inJersey City. The public paid an overall total of $1,789,238 at the ticket gates.
July 25 – In a rematch of their 1920 bout,Pete Herman regains the world Bantamweight title with a fifteen-round decision overJoe Lynch, in New York.
February–John L. "Ike" Dorgan is a founding partner ofThe Ring magazine and remained with this influential publication until his retirement in 1930.[2]
February 10 –Benny Leonard retains his world Lightweight title, with a fifteen-round decision overRocky Kansas, at New York.
June 11 –Georges Carpentier retains his world Light-Heavyweight title with a first-round knockout ofTed Kid Lewis, in London.
June 26 –Jack Britton retains his world Welterweight title with a thirteenth-round disqualification of Benny Leonard, at New York.
September 24 –Battling Siki becomesSenegal's first world boxing champion, recuperating from several knockdowns to win the world Light-Heavyweight title by knocking out Georges Carpentier in six rounds at Paris, France. Siki also became Africa's first world Light-Heavyweight champion in the process.
November 1 –Mickey "The Toy Bulldog" Walker becomes world Welterweight champion, defeating Jack Britton by a fifteen-round decision, at New York.
March 17 –Mike McTigue of Ireland wins the world Light-Heavyweight title with a twenty-round decision overBattling Siki, inDublin, Ireland.
May 30 –Jack Bernstein wins the world Jr. Lightweight title with a fifteen-round decision overJohnny Dundee, at New York City.
June 2 – FrenchEugene Criqui, who had sustained a shot on his mouth duringWorld War I action, becomes the world Featherweight champion, beatingJohnny Kilbane by a sixth-round knockout in New York. Doctors had told Criqui he would never fight again after he was shot.
June 18 –Pancho Villa becomes thePhilippines first world boxing champion in history, knocking out world Flyweight championJimmy Wilde in seven rounds, at New York.
July 4 – In one of boxing's most economically disastrous fights,Jack Dempsey retained his world Heavyweight crown with afifteen-round decision overTommy Gibbons inShelby, Montana. Dempsey's manager,Jack Kearns, had requested for the champion to be paid $300,000, an amount that the 2,000 residents of Shelby could barely come up with. As a result, Shelby was declared bankrupt at the time.
July 23 –Benny Leonard retains the world Lightweight title with a fifteen-round decision overLew Tendler in New York.
September 14 – In one of boxing's most famous fights,Luis Firpo ofArgentina comes within a second of becoming the first Hispanic world Heavyweight champion in history, dropping Jack Dempsey out of the ring and for a nine-second count, but Firpo is himself dropped ten times as Dempsey retains the crown with asecond-round knockout, in New York.
December 17 – Johnny Dundee recovers the world Jr. Lightweight title, with a fifteen-round decision over Jack Bernstein, in their New York rematch.
January 18 – Edward Henry Greb, nicknamedHarry Greb regains the world Light-Heavyweight championship, with a fifteen-round unanimous decision over championJohnny Wilson, at New York.
March 21 –Abe Goldstein, a newspaper writer turned boxer, wins the world Bantamweight title, with a fifteen-round decision overJoe Lynch, at New York.
August 1 – world Lightweight championBenny Leonard fights to a ten-round no-decision withPat Moran in a non-title bout at New York in what would be, at his mother's request, his last fight until 1931.
July 2 –Harry Greb retains the world Middleweight title with a fifteen-round decision against world Welterweight championMickey Walker, in New York.
July 4 – Fighting with an ulcerated tooth (without knowledge of the extense of his illness), Pancho Villa drops a ten-round decision toJimmy McLarnin in New York.
July 14 – Pancho Villa passes away fromblood poisoning, in New York.
December 18 – Louis Kaplan and Babe Herman fight for the second time of the year, with Kaplan retaining the world Bantamweight title with a fifteen-round decision, at New York.
July 31 – In an unprecedented move, Heavyweight ChampionGene Tunney retires from the ring, vacating the Heavyweight title after defeatingTom Heeney. UnlikeJames Jeffries before him, Tunney never returned to the ring.
September 26 – TheNational Boxing Association Heavyweight championship's vacancy is filled whenJack Sharkey defeatsTommy Loughran to take the title. Sharkey's title was not universally recognized, and in 1930 he would be defeated byMax Schmeling for the undisputed championship.
